


Signification

by Kawaiibooker



Series: A Theory of Piracy [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Introspection, Late Night Conversations, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Nakamaship, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Time Skip, Reunions, Wano Arc (One Piece), all that good stuff, basically Zoro adores his captain A Lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 07:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23347612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kawaiibooker/pseuds/Kawaiibooker
Summary: sig·ni·fi·ca·tion(n.)The process of assigning meaning to something.*Captain and First Mate, two years later.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Roronoa Zoro
Series: A Theory of Piracy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682008
Comments: 41
Kudos: 403





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by [Pitte](https://twitter.com/PPitteArt).
> 
> Set around Chapter 603: "Keep It In Your Heart".

Surrounded by tumultuous battle and the distant booming of cannons, the Thousand Sunny begins to sink. The waves churn and slosh against her hull with increasing might; glinting foam breaks across the sky in half-formed arcs and yet not a single drop touches the grass below.

The crew watches, wonder shining in their eyes. Roronoa Zoro counts, sharp gaze touching upon every familiar face, every smile that glows with shared relief, then starts over.

Nine. Nine, again.

Finally complete, the Strawhats are swallowed by the sea.

In a heartbeat, the breathless moment dissolves into the usual chaos as Nami commands their gradual descent: Usopp and Chopper screech in unison about _this_ sea king and _that_ monster over Franky’s good-natured reassurances at the helm and the melodic humming coming from Brook; blooming and wilting like flowers, Robin’s elegant hands crop up all over the deck where Sanji and Zoro are wrangling the sails against the ocean’s massive current–

The Sunny moves like a living thing underneath them and through it all, Luffy laughs and _laughs_ like he couldn’t get himself to stop even if he tried.

Having his friends back is a delight in and of itself but it’s that sound that does it. Zoro can _feel_ the rough edges of the past months knit themselves together into something nostalgic, something fond, a type of gooey-warm devotion that became second nature somewhere along the line.

Like muscle memory, dormant for a while and never forgotten. _It’s good to be home._

And yeah, he’s the first to admit soft things don’t come easy to him. There is a private smile on his lips, though, one he doesn’t care to hide. There’s no reason to, not here. Above them, a school of fish swims by, silhouetted by the sun like silver-coated birds and–

“Woah, it’s huge! Is that a shark?”

–the smile turns into a grin. Zoro’s eye meets those of his captain and, before Monkey D. Luffy can utter the idea brewing in that rubber brain of his, Shusui glides out of its sheath smoothly. Luffy cackles and together they stand, with their crew behind and the vast ocean ahead.

“You ready, Zoro?”

Those three little words settle in the spaces between skin and muscle and bone and – after two long years of worrying, wishing, _waiting_ – Zoro nods and gladly takes his place beside the man who will be Pirate King.

*

The reunion party takes days to run its course until, on the third night, even the most energetic among the Strawhats are turning to their spot on Sunny’s deck for a cozy evening. A bonfire burns brightly in their midst; under Sanji’s watchful eye, all kinds of sausages and vegetables sizzle away on a makeshift grill. Curiously, the smoke it produces leaves the resin coating of the ship in small, harmless bubbles – arms crossed and leaning back against the railing, Zoro follows their path until they disappear into depths unknown like sticky shooting stars.

A bit of imagination and even this cobalt sky can yield a few constellations, though it would take a creative mind like Usopp’s to name them all. Their presence is soothing, regardless.

 _No need to look so glum_ , Mihawk had said, that first night an eternity ago, after awkwardly hovering in Zoro’s periphery for far too long.

It had been a clumsy attempt at comfort at best. There was blood on the cuffs of his shirt and the soot of cannon fire still clung to his coat; made vague by the darkness, it was nonetheless the kind of tangible proof that all those headlines in the paper lacked. Somewhere out there, the ruins of Marineford smoldered. Somewhere out there, his captain was hurting.

Zoro had just huffed and looked out into the starless void. There was nothing to say, nothing at all.

A quiet sigh and steps echoing in the silence. Arms crossed, Mihawk had stared until Zoro couldn’t but stare back, quietly surprised by the intensity of emotion burning where nobody dared to look for it.

_Don’t grieve what you haven’t lost, kid. You’re under the same sky, after all._

_Still_ , Zoro muses, eye slipping shut and shoulders relaxing against the Sunny’s comfortable embrace. Around him, the ever-present chatter of the crew dulls to a low rush. _This is better._

The transition between sleep and consciousness is so gradual that Zoro doesn’t bother to track the moment he dozes off. Eventually, there is a subtle shift around him, like gravity itself bends and realigns towards a greater force – a silent force, and that is what makes Zoro glance up between sleepy blinks.

There Luffy stands, a hand on his hat and his hat on his chest and a woven-straw brim barely covering the crater of a scar below it. The fire casts shadows on Luffy’s face (Is it doubt flickering there? Indecisiveness?) and yet they’re fleeting enough to make Zoro question what he sees, fractured as his vision has become.

Then Luffy notices he’s awake and it’s all gone with a smile. “Napping already?”, he chuckles as he hops on the railing next to him. Zoro shrugs and stretches with a satisfied grunt.

“We getting close?”

“Nope, not yet.”

Luffy snickers as Zoro slumps right back to where he was, his back snug against warmed wood. Sandals flip-flop along with the carefree swinging of Luffy's feet. “It’s okay, though. More chances to listen to Usopp’s stories! He met _the_ Hercules, can you imagine?”

“Hardly”, Zoro grumbles indistinctly enough to not disturb the starry-eyed marvel on Luffy’s face. “Did he tell the one about the man-eating plant turned island yet?”

“The _what_?!”

It’s impossible not to laugh at how wide Luffy’s eyes can get: Zoro snorts and gestures towards the shape of Usopp on the other side of deck, a silent _have at him_ that Luffy almost follows.

Almost. Cheers and laughter carry over from Usopp’s loosely assembled audience, and Chopper’s astounded _What, really?!_ proves the story being told is a good one. Even so, the motion to launch himself into an unsuspecting Usopp is stopped mid-way and Luffy bounces back to the railing.

_Huh._

At Zoro’s questioning grunt, the man just shakes his head and lowers his hat to his lap. “Ah, y’know. We have time now, right?”, he says with a thread of serenity woven into his voice – one that wasn’t there, last time they spoke, and the realization that Luffy is _pacing himself_ shouldn’t feel this monumental.

Zoro lets his gaze linger, this time: over the subtle lines around Luffy’s eyes and the hint of exhaustion underneath; over all the little scars dusting his knuckles, old and new, and the gentle back-and-forth of his thumb over the ribbon of his hat, a mindless gesture of comfort that _aches_ , somehow.

Threadbare it has become, this most faithful of companions. The red is long washed out by the sun and the sea and hell knows what else. Gratitude registers as a warm glow at Zoro’s core, for it being there when none of them could. For weathering the storms and the tears and the laughter, from the instant it left Shanks’ head to this very moment.

“It’s looking good”, Zoro comments lightly as he sits up and rubs the last traces of sleep from his eye. “Feels like ages ago that Nami had to stitch the hat back together. After… Buggy, was it? The clown guy.”

The expression on Luffy’s face goes a bit funny at that, half-way to a grimace yet too fond to be one. “Hah, yeah, him. I’ll have to thank him next time we see him, him and Jinbei and the others.”

Zoro blinks. _That… makes no sense at all._ Then again, Mihawk _did_ grumble about the clown becoming a warlord, so weirder things have happened. “Who’s Jinbei?”

Luffy smiles, then, bright and toothy. “A friend! Don’t worry, you’ll meet him soon. He’s all serious and talks about honor a lot, so.”

 _So you’ll like him_ , Zoro fills in for him and huffs to himself. That part of himself that is fiercely independent wants to argue the point – then again, Luffy’s instincts are rarely off the mark.

Another thing to look forward to, then. Hopefully this Jinbei guy likes to drink.

“Say, Zoro?”

In a bundle of rubbery limbs and rustling fabric, Luffy joins him on the grassy deck, legs crossed and hat back where it belongs. His head tilts curiously, the steady weight of his full attention one Zoro shoulders with ease. “Where did you go?”

Ah, that. It’s a question he’s heard a few times this week, along with _How in the world were you first?_ and _What the hell happened to your eye?_ and Zoro has no room to complain. He, too, keeps a list of names in his heart, and the question marks around their fates are a subtle discomfort but very much there.

It’s weird to think of adventure as something they can experience even when forced apart.

And so Zoro tells him, about the castle standing proud among ruins and the ship that wrecked before it even touched the sea and the day he bowed to become stronger. He doesn’t mention the tense days spent in-between, reading the newspaper near-obsessively for even a scrap of new information. That black-and-white image of his captain standing alone on a battlefield is fresh in his memory, and will remain there for eternity. “Took me a while to get what you were trying to say”, he admonishes without heat, and Luffy nods sagely.

“I know, right? So complicated… Without Rayleigh I would’ve mixed everything up.”

 _That confirms that theory, then._ A whole library of those exists in Zoro’s mind, years’ worth of theories and questions gone unanswered and wild speculation and it doesn’t matter, not anymore. Not with Luffy sitting next to him, looking more at peace than Zoro expected, deep down.

“You did well, Luffy.”

The words are out before he really thinks them through. It feels right, though, to see surprise dawn on Luffy’s face; the pride Zoro places in his voice soon takes root in the square set of Luffy’s shoulders, too, and the strong line of his back.

Then, he grins, eyes alight and squinting with it. Like this, the signs of weariness melt off entirely and there Luffy is, a little older, a little more mature and scarred to hell but still the happy-go-lucky idiot Zoro chose to follow two years ago.

“We really made it, huh, Zoro? It felt like forever and I was wondering if I’m just dreaming or something but… We’re finally here.”

Zoro sighs and reaches over and pulls the hat down, the brim briefly covering the amused chuckle on Luffy’s lips before it’s righted again. “’Course it’s real, Captain. You think we’d all bust our asses to be on time for some dream? Seriously.”

Luffy is still laughing, “I mean, you were _early_! Everyone was so surprised!”, poking him in the cheek and wiggling his feet in delight. Zoro lets him have it for a second longer than he normally would have before he rolls his eye and gets up.

“C’mon, rubber-for-brains, there’s some sake I brought that’s calling my name. Oi, Usopp! What was that thing with the plant island again?”

And with the sound of stretching rubber and a not-so-distant crash, Luffy is gone and Usopp yells.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One Piece has been my favorite thing since I was a teenager. Something about finally finishing my M.A. degree made me revert to being 14 for a bit and I re-read the _entire_ thing (I had like 350 chapters to catch up on lmao) and of course, fic happened.
> 
> I love these idiots so much... I hope I did them justice. There's a similar one-shot with Law brewing in my brain, so I'll be back for that, heh.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-read by [Pitte](https://twitter.com/PPitteArt).
> 
> Set in Wano. Spoiler warning for Act One of Wano.

The night must be scratching the midnight mark when the ambient noises of the Wasteland finally fall silent. Within Tsuru’s tea house, all that can be heard is Tama’s breathing, soft and even in her slumber, and the quiet sound of cloth on metal.

One by one, Roronoa Zoro cleans his swords, hands in constant motion and mind calm. The girl is at his back, the only entrance straight ahead.

Little has changed in the past hour.

Shusui is the last to go, its black blade speckled with blood and residue bits of straw. In the dim light afforded by the lamp next to him, Zoro’s eye runs along the sharpened edge with precision. No scratches, no tears, no damage whatsoever.

Zoro’s mouth twitches upwards. _Good._

The blade sings under his care as it accepts the oil and the gentle swipe of fabric that follows it. Zoro doesn’t have to ponder each individual step – his body has executed these very same movements for most of his life – but being mindful of it… helps, on days both good and bad.

Beside him, a door slides open with the whisper of paper on wood. Steps come closer, straw against straw. Today has been an excellent day.

“Still asleep”, Zoro reports without looking up from his task. “Fever’s getting better, too.”

A hand settles on his shoulder; it’s warm, fitting the mountains and valleys of Zoro’s muscles like it has always belonged there. After a bit of shuffling, a back nudges his own.

Zoro smiles and continues. He’s almost done.

“That tea really worked, huh? I’m glad.”

Leaning against Zoro, Luffy isn’t much of a weight but significant still. He sounds _exhausted_ , now that it’s just the two of them.

“Yeah. Still, Chopper should take a look.” A beat. Zoro hums. “…Wherever he is right now.”

A huff of breath, the kind that precedes a smile. “He’s safe, don’t worry. Sanji’s with him and the others.”

Zoro sheathes Shusui and sets it aside. _Hm._ Luffy’s head comes to rest against his right shoulder, his hair feathering across Zoro’s skin. It’s crusty with dried salt and carries the scent of the sea.

“You’re really not gonna ask, are ya?”

 _Jackass._ “He’s here. ‘s all I need to know.”

Luffy snickers, as he always does.

“Stubborn. Well, there’s no need to fuss. Sanji apologized and everything. He made that sea king rice stuff, you know the one?” Zoro does. Luffy’s stomach growls. “So yummy…”

Fantasizing about food won’t do them much good. Zoro lets his head knock against Luffy’s (carefully, although his captain is rubber and there’s no real need for it). _I’m not fussing_ , he doesn’t say.

They have bigger fish to fry than their moronic cook. It’s… good to know he’s back, regardless.

Luffy hums under his breath, sounding sleepier by the minute. “How’s everyone? You guys got here okay?”

“Yeah, we’re good. Got a bit cramped in Traffy’s submarine but we managed.” An amused chuckle falls from Zoro’s mouth. “Turns out the Hearts are just a bunch of dorks. Strong and loyal but… I don’t know what I expected, with a captain that cynical.”

“Hah! Traffy’s a dork, too.”

“True.”

They share a grin, quick and easy. Personally, Zoro can’t wait for the two captains to meet again: Seeing Law so full of himself and not a perpetual hair’s breadth away from strangling someone was pretty boring, all things considered.

Then Luffy exhales a sigh, content. “He’s got his crew back, though. That’s good.”

And perhaps it’s because they haven’t seen each other in weeks, haven’t had time to sit like this and _exist_ for a while – Zoro hears a touch of melancholy in there, too, and sympathy twists at his core.

“Let’s find the others tomorrow. Without, uh, wrecking Kin’emon’s plan.”

Luffy nods against Zoro’s shoulder, a gentle motion. “Mhmm.”

The night ticks on. The need to move builds slowly, a numb tingling that crawls up his legs like a colony of ants, and yet Zoro sits patiently. Luffy is quiet for a while, dozes off, startles himself awake again.

“It’s past midnight”, Zoro tells him.

Luffy mumbles something resembling an affirmative. Zoro raises a brow, even though the other can’t see it. _Who’s the stubborn one now?_

“Go to sleep, Captain. I’m on first watch, remember?”

“No… Wanna talk t’Zoro.”

Zoro sighs and he doesn’t fight the way those words curl themselves around his heart, warm and safe. Luffy could do terrifying things with that sweet-talking of his: a downright absurd thought, given the guy can barely tell manipulation from truth even when his life depends on it.

“Not going anywhere, idiot. Let’s talk in the morning.”

Nothing.

“Luffy.”

“Mmm?”

“I mean it.”

A long, whiny exhale. “ _Fine_ but you gotta come with me.”

“Sure”, Zoro nods. He blinks. “Wait, what do y–?”

And just like that, Luffy’s up and wrapping an arm multiple times around Zoro’s waist. Before he can as much as squawk, Zoro is lifted effortlessly as if he’s nothing more than a lazy, overgrown dog – he has to pick up his legs so they don’t drag noisily across the tatami mat floor and oh, mutiny is suddenly such an appealing concept.

Zoro hisses, “ _Luffy_ ”, low and indignant; Luffy’s laugh is hushed, breathed right against his ear–

 _My swords_ , a stray thought, an important one if he’s to do his duty properly. Zoro pats Luffy’s hand with some urgency. One rubber-stretched grab later, the swords are clutched safely to his chest.

A few feet from where Tama’s sleeping off her fever, two neatly-folded futons wait to be claimed; Zoro is deposited on one of them (which immediately topples under his weight, only his quick reflexes preventing an ungraceful fall). He witnesses Luffy destroy Tsuru’s hard work by half-heartedly spreading his own mattress-and-duvet combination, burrowing into the covers like a hog through forest ground.

With one final huff, Luffy stills. Sleepy, half-lidded eyes shine in the dark.

“…Zoro?”

Scratching his neck, Zoro sets out to fix his own futon. He folds it out against Luffy’s, quiet hands working to smooth out the ruffles and tuck in the edges there as he goes. Carefully, Zoro reaches into the pile of blankets that is Luffy to pull out the hat that’s been haplessly smooshed in the process. It’s placed on the very edge of Luffy’s bed, within easy reach.

Eyes closed, Luffy makes a pleased noise and snuggles into his pillow. Zoro huffs fondly and ruffles his hair.

“I’m right here. Rest.”

Luffy drops off to sleep a moment after and so Zoro settles in for the night, pillow propped against a nearby wall next to his swords and a blanket thrown over his crossed legs.

*

The sky lightens with the tender touches of dawn and Zoro shifts, pulls away from deep meditation to hear the change in Luffy’s breathing. Snoring is followed by a sudden snort and drowsy mumbling.

Monkey D. Luffy always wakes with the sun, no matter over which horizon it rises.

Just in time, too, with how heavy Zoro’s lid feels every time he blinks. Suppressing a yawn, he rolls his neck and stretches his back, and his spine pops between his shoulders. The last remnant of battle along with the satisfying ache in his arms and hands – it’s been a while since Zoro got to draw a sword and _mean it_.

Tama is still snoozing and thus Zoro doesn’t bother to get on his feet properly. Half-shuffling, half-crawling, he leans over the crown of Luffy’s head. “Oi.”

“Huh?” Luffy glances up through tousled strands. His grin is immediate, a little crinkled with sleep. “Oh. My turn!”

 _Mhm_ , Zoro makes around a small smile.

It’s been awhile since it was just them and nobody else yet this routine is still familiar: Luffy grabs his hat and hops to his feet, going from slumber to fully awake in seconds, and Zoro takes his place, choosing Luffy’s pre-warmed futon over his own. He has about a minute to get comfortable before – _oof_ – Luffy throws himself against his side, arms crossed and elbows digging into Zoro’s ribs and midriff respectively.

“Captain”, Zoro grumbles.

“Uncomfortable?”

“… No.”

Luffy chuckles. “Zoro’s going easy on me.”

“Don’t get used to it.”

“Missed ya too”, Luffy sing-songs, and Zoro doesn’t have to look to know he’s grinning, the cheeky bastard.

After that Luffy keeps himself busy, tinkering with Zoro’s earrings for a moment before he turns to the back of Zoro’s hand to doodle mindless circles with his finger. Breath by breath, Zoro finds himself slipping closer and closer to sleep.

“Ace was here, y’know?”

Luffy says it in such a casual, pensive way, like it’s just another tidbit of information Zoro missed out on. Zoro’s eye opens. He’s wide awake.

“He and his crew reached Wano, years ago. Tama told me. People were starving then too and Ace helped them.”

There’s something fragile about this, about the morning light barely starting to spill into the room and the loving way Luffy speaks of his brother. Something precious, and nothing in the world could bring Zoro to interrupt Luffy now.

“Tama wants to sail to sea, did you know that?” Round and round, Luffy draws invisible lines on Zoro’s skin. “Ace promised he’d come back and take her along when she’s older. And a ninja! That’s important.”

The mental image of sweet Tama as a ruthless ninja is a little out there but who is Zoro to judge? She’s certainly brave enough for it but–

 _Oh, Ace._ Quietly, Zoro wonders how old he was at the time. If he, too, was barely past seventeen when he started leaving a trail of reckless promises in the hopes of living another day.

It’s then that Luffy pauses, his chest moving against Zoro’s with the slow breath he inhales. Zoro breathes with him, bracing for impact.

“But… Ace is gone. I told her, and she got angry with me.” Walking the line of that old heartache, Luffy laughs and doesn’t break. “She said I don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s better this way, I think.”

Finally, Luffy’s hand stills. Calmly, Zoro offers him his palm instead; Luffy continues with an amused huff, tracing along the deep creases and old scars there.

“What do you think, Zoro? About Tama.”

Years, they have known each other. For Luffy, there’s a great many things Zoro is willing to indulge in – here, at the break of a new day and with the life of a child hanging in the balance, Luffy isn’t asking for indulgence.

Thus Zoro says, “Ace was right”, voice a little raspy this long into his watch. “Children don’t belong at sea.”

Luffy hums and mumbles, “Yeah.” He doesn’t sound particularly surprised. “I want to help them, Zoro. The people of this town, this country. Nobody deserves to cry over bean soup.”

And oh, the anger that seethes within Zoro wells up at that, patiently waiting to be unleashed – an ice-blue fire that burns at his core, fed by the notion of a land poisoned to its very rivers and all the injustices he’s witnessed.

“We will”, he promises his captain, because Ace’s family is Luffy’s family and that makes Tama _theirs_. It’s how it’s always been. “We’ll get that shitty cook to throw ‘em a feast after, too.”

Luffy nods enthusiastically. “A big one!”

Zoro chuckles. Yawning, he turns into his pillow, eye sliding shut. “With lots of sake.”

With the sound of Luffy’s laughter in the air, he finally allows himself to drift off. That morning, Zoro’s dreams are filled with the smiles of his crew and Sunny's full sails, a new horizon coming ever-closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It turns out I wasn't done raving about these two askjdskfhks
> 
> Listen... The reunion of Zoro and Luffy in the anime had me grinning like an idiot all week. It just brings me so much joy to see 'em breaking all of Kin'emon's rules together... they truly are two halves of the same idiot sandwich....... ([Here's a twitter thread about them being Dads around Tama ahaha.](https://twitter.com/kawaiibooker/status/1262435700642852864))
> 
> In other news! Pitte and I have been accepted into the [Romance Dawn zine](https://romancedawn-zine.tumblr.com/)! We'll be tackling an art/fic collaboration about Nico Robin for the Water 7/Enies Lobby arc. We already worked on a similar project for RDR2 together, so I'm excited to get to it soon c: pre-orders are set to open towards the end of the year, so please keep an eye out for it 💗
> 
> Also--
> 
> [CHAPTER 980 SPOILERS BELOW]
> 
> \--AAAAAAAAAAAAA 😭😭😭!!! That is all.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](https://kawaiibooker.tumblr.com) / [twitter](https://twitter.com/kawaiibooker)


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